


Wait For Me to Come Home

by RiddlePanda



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, Gen, Hope I kept the UF characters as close to how they're perceived, It's always been Underfell Universe, Non-Binary Frisk, Shoot...all of them need hugs, Taking a few liberties in having Sans remember more than he lets on, The Great and Terrible Papyrus probably needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 10:57:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6563497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiddlePanda/pseuds/RiddlePanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk had to RESET for a reason. Now the timeline is all screwed up. Frisk's just glad Papyrus didn't kill them right away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wait For Me to Come Home

“I…I’m s-sorry Papyrus. Th-there’s nothing I can do f-for him…”

The reptilian scientist squeaked as she felt herself lifted and slammed against the wall and shrieked as red clawed gloves appeared on both sides of her head. 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING FOR HIM!? YOU’RE THE ROYAL SCIENTIST, AREN’T YOU?! I’VE SEEN THOSE…ABOMINATIONS…IN YOUR BASEMENT. I KNOW YOU CAN DO SOMETHING TO HELP HIM.”

Alphys’s breathing grew ragged, nearly causing her to hyperventilate as she tore her gaze away from the glowering skeleton in front of her to look at the prone figure on the bed. “S-Sans’s soul isn’t…it’s not like a “fallen” monster. I-I don’t know what it is…but I can’t treat it. It’s like…he did that to his soul himself, like he purposely wanted to give up and stop caring…but…”

Papyrus leaned his head closer to the scientist’s face, staring at her with his pitch black eyes. “WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD MY BROTHER DO THAT TO HIMSELF?! I KNOW HE’S PATHETIC AND WEAK AND WORTHLESS, BUT HE KNOWS BETTER THAN TO GIVE UP, FOR WHATEVER REASON! THERE’S NOTHING HE HAS TO CARE ABOUT, SO THAT REASONING IS BULLSHIT!”

“I-I don’t know then! I-I just know that h-he won’t wake up ever again. His body is basically just a husk and his soul is barely hanging on, like his soul just doesn’t have the energy to go ahead and break. He’ll just lay there until his soul eventually shatters completely. There’s NOTHING I can do Papyrus. You just have to accept the fact that he’s going to d-”

“GET OUT!”

Alphys was shoved violently to the other side of Sans’s room and the reptile took no time in rushing out of the house, leaving her equipment behind.

The tall skeleton’s hands were still on the wall and Papyrus balled them up into fists as he breathed heavily. After a few moments, his breathing evened out and he turned to the bed where Sans’s body was laying. In a few short steps, Papyrus was beside the bed and stared down at his older brother’s still form. With a shaky hand, he summoned his brother’s soul out of his body.

The soul was shriveled, it’s appearance barely even passing for the inverse heart that monsters had. It was a sickly grey color and thousands of tiny cracks marred the surface. The sight of it even made Papyrus’s normally hardened soul clench in pain. 

Papyrus frowned as he gently placed his hand under the shriveled lump and lightly squeezed it, hoping to get some reaction from his brother. Sans remained un-moving and new cracks split across the surface of the soul. 

“WHY SANS? WHY…DID YOU GIVE UP? WHAT CAUSED YOU TO GIVE UP? WHAT CAUSED YOUR SOUL TO BECOME LIKE THIS?”

Silence was Papyrus’s only answer. 

The skeleton stared at his brother for a few minutes longer before tearing his eyes away to look at the soul still cupped in his hand. How long did his brother have before his soul finally gave out? Was Sans suffering silently, unresponsive in his body but screaming and crying internally as his soul slowly shattered? For the first time in a long time, Papyrus didn’t want to cause his brother any more pain or suffering than he was in. For the first time in a long time, Papyrus would show his brother mercy.

Papyrus closed his eyes as he crushed Sans’s soul into dust, letting the particles join the dust that was once his older brother.

He stood there silently for an hour, staring blankly at the pile of dust on the bed, before numbly walking into the kitchen and found a large jar with a few gold in it that had once housed relish and returned back to the room. He dumped the money out and carefully scraped every inch of the bed to gather as much of his brother’s dust as he could to place in the jar. 

Papyrus got through just as the alarm on Sans’s phone went off, signalling when the skeleton usually got up to head to his sentry post. Papyrus set the jar back on the bed and pulled off his torn red scarf and tied it around the jar.

“YOU CAN SLEEP IN TODAY SANS. I’LL TAKE YOUR SHIFT TODAY.”

Before the skeleton left, he reached down and grabbed the black and red jacket Sans had been so fond of, putting it on. It smelled faintly of mustard, flowers, and something familiar Papyrus couldn’t quite place at the moment. He willed his face into his normal angry scowl and left the house.

——————————————

Papyrus trudged swiftly in the snow, bypassing all the traps and puzzles he normally checked each morning. The only resistance he had that morning had been Greater Dog, who had challenged the tall skeleton for his Vice Captain position, but one hard glare and snarl from Papyrus caused the normally vicious hound to whimper and bound away, presumably to warn the other dogs to not mess with him since each station he walked passed looked abandoned.

As he neared closer to Sans’s sentry station, Papyrus’s mind wandered. The word Alphys had said were weighing in his mind. Had there been something that his brother had cared about, enough to cause him to break down? His mind racked through the days leading to Sans eventually not waking up the previous day. Papyrus vaguely remembered Sans coming home late three days beforehand. He had surmised that his brother had been at Grillby’s and had got sent home for either drinking Grillby’s entire supply of mustard or had got into a fight, but the only smell of mustard Papyrus had noticed was the permanent one on his jacket and Sans had looked fine, albeit a bit worn and tired. 

For the next two days, Sans had already been up and out of the house before Papyrus had even woken up and had come home late in the night, looking even more worn down. He had quietly thanked Papyrus for dinner each night, before retiring to bed, without any of his usual jabs or jokes at Papyrus’s angered expense and hadn’t retorted back on Papyrus’s usual tirade of calling him worthless. He hadn’t even flinched or moved to defend himself when Papyrus moved to hit him. The skeleton had vowed to get an answer on what had his brother not acting like himself and had woken earlier the next day to wait for Sans and confront him. 

As the hours passed without any noise from his brother’s room, Papyrus had stormed up to Sans’s room, to find his older brother still asleep. After failing to wake him with several shouts and vigorous shakes, the skeleton had fearfully and reluctantly called Undyne that he wouldn’t be able to make his daily patrolling at the CORE and Capital and managed to convince her that if Sans wasn’t able to do his sentry duties, the Dogs would be the ones to encounter a human and get their SOUL instead and that he needed Alphys to see what was wrong with the short skeleton. 

———————-

Papyrus finally got to Sans’s sentry station, frowning as he sat down on the counter; the chair too low to the ground to properly sit in with his long legs. He honestly didn’t know why he even came out to the thing in the first place, but surmised that by the end of the day, everyone in the Underground would know that Sans was gone, judging by the fact that Papyrus had insisted upon himself to wear his older brother’s jacket. There was a nagging thought in his head that he NEEDED to be here, but brushed it off as just wanting to be alone to grieve his brother in peace.

Once that thought went through his head, Papyrus scoffed. His brother had been weak, even weaker than some of the kids in town. He should have been dead long ago. It was a fact of life for everyone down here. Kill or be killed. He never thought to care about Sans while he was alive, so why was he caring now that he was dead, by his own hand no less? Why did he even take the time to scoop up the dust in a jar? To leave his scarf with it? To wear his brother’s jacket in place of it? 

Pulling the jacket closer around him, Papyrus shuddered. He did care. He HAD cared. Even if he had never showed it and had tried so hard to admit to himself he didn’t, he had still cared about Sans. But it was too late to do anything. Too late to change what he had done, what he had said. He felt moisture on his skull and realized he had started to cry. Papyrus laughed weakly, glad that no one was around to witness the skeleton’s moment of weakness. He’d be dusted on site if Undyne had been here and he knew he’d deserve it.

“Sans!”

Papyrus’s head shot up and he stood up swiftly, moving into a fighting stance and stared into the direction of the source of the voice. At first he didn’t see anything but the white snow, but after a minute, he could make out something small coming toward him. His eyes narrowed and he swiftly walked to confront whatever had called out his brother’s name.

As he moved closer, the thing seemed to slow down, stopping just as it got past the wide bars on the bridge he had built and was staring at him wide-eyed. He stopped a few feet in front of the creature and looked down. It looked like a child, just a head shorter than Sans, evidenced from the striped shirt it wore and the wide, innocent looking eyes most monster children had before they learned the Underground’s motto. It stared fearfully at him, but made no move to run away or foolishly fight him.

“Wh-where’s S-Sans?”

Papyrus threw a bone attack at the creature, who squeaked and dodged the attack quickly and looked back at him. 

“Pl-please! I don’t want to fight! I just need to tell Sans-”

“HOW DO YOU KNOW KNOW MY BROTHER’S NAME YOU…YOU…” Papyrus glared at the creature, taking in it’s appearance for a second before his eyes grew wide and he forced the child into a battle. He stared at the blood red upright SOUL in front of him.

“…HUMAN!” Papyrus growled and launched another bone attack at the child, getting frustrated that they had dodged another one of his attacks. 

“Papyrus, please! I have to talk to Sans! Please! I don’t want to fight you! Please remember! It’s me, Frisk!”

The skeleton hesitated for a second upon hearing his name come from the child’s mouth, before launching another attack that managed to pin the human to the snowy ground. He walked over to them and lifted the child by the front of their sweater and slammed them into the nearest tree. 

“HOW DO YOU KNOW MINE AND SANS’S NAMES!? ANSWER ME HUMAN!” 

Papyrus held the human up by their throat, enough to keep them pinned but not enough to prevent them from talking. He leaned closer, hoping to scare the child into finally telling him how they knew their names, when a familiar smell invaded his nasal cavity. The same familiar smell that he couldn’t identify on Sans’s jacket. 

He quickly jerked his hand back and stepped away, watching as the child fell onto the snowy ground below. 

Frisk rubbed their throat, trying to get feeling back into it and coughed a few times, before looking back up at Papyrus, who was looking at them in disbelief. 

“Papyrus…”

“H-HOW? HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME? SANS’S NAME? WHY DOES HIS JACKET SMELL LIKE YOU?! I DON’T… WHY!?”

Frisk slowly stood up and tried walking over to the skeleton, who backed up with each step, but still held a defensive stance. They stopped once they knew they couldn’t get closer to Papyrus and sighed.

“It’s…it’s complicated. But once I talk to Sans, we can help you and everyone else understand. Right after I apologize to him for being late meeting each other, I can-”

“LATE? WHAT DO YOU MEAN LATE?”

“I…I was supposed to meet him three days ago. But…I had trouble in the Ruins. It took me a lot longer to get through the traps and puzzles and Flowey and Toriel weren’t aro-”

“THREE DAYS… THREE… YOU. IT WAS YOU HE… HE…WAS WAITING FOR. BUT…YOU DIDN’T COME.” Pulling the jacket close to him, Papyrus closed his eyes.

“Papyrus?”

“SANS…IS DEAD. HE DIED… NO… I KILLED HIM. HIS SOUL…IT WAS TOO PAINFUL TO LOOK AT. TOO BROKEN TO BE FIXED. I PUT HIM OUT OF HIS MISERY, OUT OF HIS PAIN AND SUFFERING.” 

“No…not him too. No. NO! Papyrus…please. Please don’t joke. Please? He can’t… Sans can’t be… He’s the only one besides me and Flowey that…” 

Seeing the child begin to share his grief and not caring he still didn’t know the human or what they were talking about, Papyrus dropped to his knees, letting a sob come out of his mouth. He stayed there for several minutes, crying to himself, not caring that this human he just met, that he should be killing, was a witness to his breakdown.

Gentle hands touched the sides of his face and he looked up as Frisk tried their best to smile, eyes puffy and red from where they’d been crying. Frisk moved their hands and wrapped them around Papyrus’s neck, giving him a brief hug before pulling away and standing a few feet from him, their arms raised.

“I can fix this Papyrus. I can bring him back. I just have to RESET. I…I don’t know if the same events will happen, but I’ll just try my hardest to get here on time. Maybe…this next RESET, Flowey and Toriel will be back too. All you have to do is kill me.”

“WHAT!?”

“Kill me Papyrus. That’s the only way I can go back. My last SAVE was only a few hours ago, so it wouldn’t work if I just went back to my last one. I’ll just do a full RESET. That way Sans will come back to life.”

Papyrus stood up and growled. “ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID HUMAN!? YOU STILL HAVEN’T ANSWERED MY QUESTIONS! AND NOW YOU’RE MAKING ME EVEN MORE CONFUSED! HOW DO YOU KNOW SANS AND ME? WHO THE HELL IS THIS FLOWEY AND TORIEL? RESETS? SAVES? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I’M NOT EVEN GOING TO CONSIDER KILLING YOU UNTIL YOU ANSWER ME!”

Frisk flinched at the harsher tone in the skeleton’s voice and opened their mouth to speak, before closing it again. They closed their eyes and took deep breaths, grateful that Papyrus was patiently waiting for them to answer him.

“I…I don’t know really where to begin…especially since you never remember unlike Sans, Flowey, and I.”

“REMEMBER WHAT?”

“…that you’re stuck in a time loop.”

“WHAT?”

Frisk sighed and rubbed their arms, trying to warm them. “A time loop Papyrus. I…I have the power to control it in a way. If I die, I can come back to life through certain points I touch. I can also RESET the timeline if I’ve screwed up and restart at the place I fell in the Ruins. I…never used it before though. This was the first time I did…but I had a really good reason. That’s what I wanted to tell Sans about…but…”

“HUMAN…”

“I…only thought that my friend Flowey and I were the only ones that knew that I had this power, but Sans…after a few times I died and kept passing through this area…he finally confronted me about it. Finally told me that he remembered me, even though he shouldn’t. He’s the one that figured out we were stuck in a time loop. Told me tons of science sounding stuff. And finally…after a certain number of times I died, he decided to help me pass this area. He got me to Snowdin finally and treated me to Grillby’s a few times. Let me stay and rest at your house before I faced you and finally befriended you. Kept a watch out for me the rest of the way to the Capital…and then…we…”

Frisk shivered and tried to keep their tears at bay. “I can’t…I can’t go through another run…not without him. Flowey could only do so much and disappeared at times I really needed him…but Sans… he took care of me. Please Papyrus…please let me fix this. Please kill me so I can.”

Papyrus stood up and looked down at Frisk. The child had their arms still stretched out and had closed their eyes, waiting for the skeleton to kill them. Papyrus ran over his options in his head. He was still confused at what the human had told him and his broken emotional state due to his brother had shaken his normally collected reasoning and judgement. On one hand, if the child was telling the truth, he could get his brother back. On the other, he’d get the child’s SOUL and they could break the barrier. Still…if he couldn’t remember his feelings for his brother, it would be moot to bring Sans back.

“ONE CONDITION TO THE PLAN HUM… FRISK.”

Frisk opened their eyes and looked at him, furrowing their brows. “Condition?”

“HELP ME REMEMBER THIS CONVERSATION. HELP ME REMEMBER THIS DAY. THAT WAY I CAN HELP IF YOU ARE LATE THE NEXT TIME. I…BELIEVE THAT’S THE REASON SANS’S SOUL ENDED UP THE WAY IT DID. IF YOU ARE TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TIME LOOP AND IF YOU AND HIM ARE AS CLOSE AS YOU SAY, I BELIEVE HE LOST HOPE IN YOU RETURNING. I DO NOT WANT HIM TO LOSE THAT HOPE AGAIN.”

“I…I don’t know how Papyrus. Sans…he told me why HE remembered. Something to do with science and labs or something. He never elaborated and told me not to ask. I don’t know how you could remember. Sans would be the only one that could answer that, but he’s…”

A gust of wind suddenly blew through the area and Frisk shivered slightly, putting their arms down and rubbing them. Papyrus’s eye sockets widened and he quickly pulled off Sans’s jacket and kneeled down to wrap the jacket around the child. As he did, the whiff of what he now knew was Frisk’s scent invaded his nasal cavity again. 

“HIS JACKET SMELLS LIKE YOU…”

Frisk looked up after putting their arms through the arm holes of the jacket. “What? But that should be impossible. I never met him in this time loop. It shouldn’t smell like me.”

“IT DOES. IT DOES SO MUCH THAT IT’S A PERMANENT SMELL ON THE JACKET, JUST LIKE THE SMELL OF FLOWERS AND THE MUSTARD HE DRINKS. HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU WEAR HIS JACKET THROUGH THE LAST LOOP?”

Frisk kept silent for a few minutes, thinking back. “I…want to say about a hundred or so. I…kept getting tripped up with some of the Dogs and your puzzles got the best of me several times. He let me wear it around the tenth time I walked past his sentry station and wouldn’t accept it back until I got past you and got past a certain point in Waterfall. I think the flower scent is Flowey, since he was usually in a pot I carried. But…it still doesn’t make sense. It shouldn’t smell like me, especially since I RESET.”

Papyrus smirked and stood up. “I THINK THAT MIGHT BE THE WAY I CAN REMEMBER. THAT SMELL IS THE REASON I CEASED MY ATTACKS ON YOU. WHEN I SMELLED IT ON HIS JACKET THIS MORNING, I THOUGHT IT WAS FAMILIAR BUT COULDN’T PLACE IT. I THINK IF I SMELLED IT THROUGH THE NEXT RESET, I COULD REMEMBER ENOUGH TO KEEP SANS FROM GIVING UP.”

Frisk put their hands on their hips. “Papyrus, you and I both know that Sans isn’t going to let you just smell his jacket and you have no reason to regardless. It’s a good plan in theory, but it actually happening probably won’t be possible.”

“HOW ABOUT MY SCARF THEN? THAT’S THE ONE THING I ALWAYS WEAR, EVEN ON MY DAYS OFF. YOU COULD WEAR IT AROUND FOR A FEW HOURS, ALONG WITH SANS’S JACKET, AND GET YOUR SMELL ON IT. MAYBE THE SMELL WILL STAY ON IT AFTER A RESET. IT WON’T BE AS STRONG AS MY BROTHER’S JACKET, BUT IT SHOULD BE ENOUGH, RIGHT?”

“One problem, you’re not wearing your scarf.”

“I…I LEFT IT AT HOME…WITH SANS’S DUST. I DIDN’T THINK I NEEDED IT. WE’LL HAVE TO GO TO THE HOUSE TO GET IT.” 

Papyrus kneeled down and motioned for Frisk to get on his back. Frisk hesitated for a moment, before slowly climbing on the tall skeleton. After he was sure the child was secure, Papyrus began walking swiftly back to town.

“Wouldn’t it be easier for me to stay at the sentry post and you come back with the scarf? The Dog Guard is all out and they could attack and we’ll have to go through your puzzles.”

“NONSENSE FRISK. IT’S COLD OUT HERE AND YOU COULD FREEZE. PLUS, I DIDN’T ACTIVATE MY PUZZLES TODAY AND THE DOG GUARD KNOWS WELL ENOUGH TO STAY AWAY FROM ME TODAY DUE TO THAT DAMN GREATER DOG TRYING TO FIGHT ME THIS MORNING. BESIDES…SINCE SANS ISN’T HERE TO HELP AND PROTECT YOU, THE DUTY FALLS ON ME. ISN’T THAT RIGHT, FRIEND?”

Frisk gave Papyrus’s neck a light squeeze and nodded their head. “I’m just glad I don’t have to fight you this time before we became friends. I wasn’t looking forward to being bitten by that dog again.”

“THE DOG? THAT DAMN ANNOYING DOG THAT KEEPS GETTING IN THE HOUSE? HE BIT YOU!? I’LL KILL THAT DAMN THING!”

“Uh…not in this timeline! I’m fine! Don’t kill the dog Papyrus! It’ll only come back when I RESET anyway!”

——————-

The trek to Snowdin was uneventful besides an annoying encounter where Jerry just would not leave the two alone. Jerry finally scoffed and left after Papyrus knocked out a hefty chunk of the monster’s health, which caused Frisk to huff at him. Papyrus reminded the child that once Frisk RESET, it technically wouldn’t have happened and the answer placated the human. 

As the two made their way closer to the house and made idle talk, Papyrus began to relax and finally convince himself that allowing himself to believe the human’s story was the right decision. As Frisk talked about their time in the Underground during the first time loop they had experienced, Papyrus had to agree to himself that the child knew way too much about Sans, himself, and the rest of the inhabitants of the Underground for their story to not be true. 

Frisk had nodded off just as they got to Snowdin, so Papyrus hurried to the house and set the child on the couch to sleep and began to make spaghetti. He stopped momentarily as the noodles were cooking to head up to Sans’s room and retrieve both his brother’s dust and his scarf, which he draped around Frisk as best he could. He set the jar of dust on the table in the living room, next to Sans’s pet rock, Sprinkles, that he had never fed. 

Papyrus walked into the living room once the food was done with the intent of waking Frisk up to eat, only to be surprised they were already up and sitting at the table, staring at the jar that contained Sans and softly stroking it. 

“WE’LL GET HIM BACK FRISK.”

Frisk nodded softly and wiped their face with the jacket they still wore. “I know. I just… Through my first run, I saw plenty of dust and some monsters even getting killed in front of my eyes. Shoot…I died at least three hundred times before I finally got to the castle. But…Sans… he’s just… I know his stats. He showed me once, when I got to the Judgement Hall, when he explained all about what everything meant. But even though his stats were so low, even lower than mine, all I could see was the strongest monster in the Underground staring back at me. In this world of “Kill or be killed”, he’s the only one that never attacked me, never hurt me. Even Toriel, who wanted to give me a home and wanted me to call her mom, attacked me. Fowey did once too… But Sans? Sans never did. From the moment he saw me…he showed me MERCY from the very beginning.”

Papyrus sat down at the table and lifted up the end of his scarf on Frisk. “I HOPE THIS WORKS. I DON’T WANT TO FORGET WHAT I’VE LEARNED TODAY…AND WHAT I’VE REALIZED. I…WASN’T EXACTLY THE BEST BROTHER… I’D LIKE TO RECTIFY THAT. I’M SURE SANS HAD NOTHING BUT NEGATIVE THINGS TO SAY ABOUT ME.”

Frisk chuckled. “Actually the opposite. Sure, I saw many fights between you two, but after you’d leave, Sans would almost always say something positive about you. How you kept him from wallowing in depression, gave him a reason to keep going. And even though you kept bringing him down with hateful words and acts, he told me that he didn’t mind it. In this kind of world, that was the best he could get of knowing you actually cared about him.”

“…THANK YOU FRISK. FOR TELLING ME THAT.”

——————————-

The two talked more as they ate dinner, agreeing that just before midnight would be the best time for Papyrus to kill Frisk so they could RESET. As the hours passed by, the skeleton grew more agitated and reluctant to do what he knew he needed to do. In the few short hours, he had grown attached to the human, wondering if this was how Sans had felt as they befriended Frisk. He didn’t want to lose the bond they had created, the bond that he had learned had been created before Frisk RESET the first time. 

“So…how are you going to do this? Bone attack? Throw me in a row of bones? Drop me? There was always that “special attack” you kept talking about that the dog kept stealing.”

“FRISK…I DON’T WANT TO HURT YOU…”

Frisk sighed and clutched the skeleton’s scarf. “You know you have to Papyrus. I have to RESET to bring Sans back. Hopefully this smell thing will work and you’ll remember…but if not, I don’t mind re-befriending you again. I mean…”

The child squeaked as they were pulled into a tight hug, whimpering as they felt the tall skeleton shaking. They felt a pull in their chest and felt as Papyrus grabbed their SOUL in his hand, the red light of it illuminating the parts of the skeleton they could see. 

“I DON’T WANT TO HURT YOU.”

Papyrus swiftly squeezed the SOUL, shattering into pieces. He pulled the dead child closer to himself, breathing in their scent.

“PLEASE. PLEASE LET ME REMEMBER.”

———————————————–

The alarm by Papyrus’s bed rang out, letting the skeleton know it was time to wake up for the day. He scowled at it and slammed the button before pushing himself out of bed. Before making his way downstairs, he checked Sans’s room, growling as he saw his brother curled up around the giant mound of what used to be his bedsheets. 

He started on breakfast, surprising himself that he made enough for both skeletons to have a full breakfast. He usually only made himself breakfast or made an extra piece of bacon or egg for Sans to eat if he was feeling generous that day. 

Papyrus ate his breakfast and trekked up to his brother’s room to wake him up to eat before it got cold. He slammed the door open, waking Sans up, who glared at him.

“I FELT GENEROUS TODAY AND I MADE YOU BREAKFAST. EAT IT BEFORE IT GETS COLD YOU WORTHLESS SACK OF SHIT.”

He made sure Sans had made his way into the kitchen before going back to his room to change into his battle armor. As he grabbed his scarf and wrapped it around his neck, a familiar smell on it caused his eyes to grow wide.

“FRISK…”

Snippets of memories came flooding back to him and he clutched his head as he remembered crushing both his brother’s and the human’s SOULS, the conversations Frisk and him had, and his realization that he cared about Sans. He grabbed his phone and checked the date, tears threatening to fall as he realized the plan had worked. They were back on the day Frisk was supposed to meet Sans for the first time and Papyrus had all his memories from the previous timeline. 

The front door opening and shutting broke Papyrus out of his thoughts and he quickly ran down the stairs and threw open the door, not seeing his brother anywhere. 

“DAMN IT! HE USED HIS DAMN SHORTCUT.”

Papyrus quickly slammed the door and began trudging through town and the forest, trying to get to Sans as quickly as possible.

————————————————

“Where are ya kid? Why’d ya RESET again? Did you get stuck in the Ruins the last time?” 

Sans paced back and forth on the road next to the heavy stick he usually broke after Frisk and Flowey stepped over it, staring at the giant door in the distance. His head hurt from not being able to remember much of the last time loop. He knew Frisk had been late coming out of the Ruins, but didn’t remember meeting them at all. And the time loop before that… Had it been a dream all along? They had done it, hadn’t they? They were going to be free. So why had Frisk RESET? 

“DAMN YOUR SHORTCUTS SANS! IT TOOK ME AN HOUR TO GET HERE! I EVEN BYPASSED ALL MY PUZZLES JUST TO GET HERE AS FAST AS I DID!”

Sans had been so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize Papyrus had walked up before the taller skeleton had started shouting. He looked up at his younger brother wide-eyed.

“Uh…B-Boss! W-why are you here?”

“I WANTED TO CHECK ON YOUR SENTRY DUTIES TODAY, THAT’S ALL. YOU’RE A BIT FAR AWAY FROM YOUR POST, AREN’T YOU SANS?”

Sans shuddered a bit, glancing at the stone door. “Uh, I just thought that it would be better to see if a human came through the door if I was closer, you know Boss?”

“HMM, I SUPPOSE THAT’S A GOOD ENOUGH REASONING. GOOD THINKING BROTHER.”

“Th-thanks Boss.”

The two stood there for the next hour, Sans sneaking glances at both the door and his brother, wondering where the kid was, hoping that the horrible nightmare that seemed more like a memory he had the night before hadn’t come true. He hoped it hadn’t been. After all, Frisk had RESET the timeline again, so they still had to be…

“SANS, HOW POWERFUL ARE YOUR BLASTERS?”

It took a moment to process what Papyrus had asked him and before he could answer, his brother began walking toward the door. 

“ARE THEY POWERFUL ENOUGH TO BLAST AWAY THE DOOR?”

Sans ran to catch up with Papyrus. “Y-yeah, I think so. I’d probably have to use two or three since I haven’t used them in a while.”

“THEN DO IT. OBVIOUSLY THEY’RE LATE, AREN’T THEY?”

“B-Boss?”

Papyrus turned around and sighed. “FRISK. THEY’RE USUALLY HERE BY NOW, SO THEY’VE TOLD ME. SO, SINCE THEY ARE LATE, THEY ARE OBVIOUSLY STUCK IN THE RUINS SOMEWHERE. THEY MENTIONED THAT A FLOWEY AND A TORIEL WERE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND LAST TIME AND THEY HAD TROUBLE GETTING THROUGH. OBVIOUSLY FRISK NEEDS HELP FROM THEIR TWO SKELEBRO FRIENDS.”

Sans stopped dead in his tracks and looked at his brother wide-eyed. “You…you remember Frisk? But…”

“FRISK SAID THEY’D EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO YOU ONCE THEY SAW YOU AGAIN. YOU WEREN’T HERE THE LAST TIME SO FRISK AND I CAME UP WITH A PLAN TO HELP ME REMEMBER SO I COULD HELP YOU. I’D RATHER NOT REPEAT THE LAST TIME LOOP, SO BLAST THE DOOR SANS.”

Sans took no time in summoning his blasters to blow the door away and the two quickly made their way through the hallways and into a home that looked like a mirror copy of Asgore’s home. Searching through the rooms and finding it empty, they made their way deeper into the Ruins, Papyrus barreling through most of the puzzles and having Sans teleport the two through long stretches of hallways. 

They came to a long hallway that was empty, save for a tall pillar, and Papyrus was about to have Sans teleport them to the other side, when a weak cough came from behind the pillar. The two rushed over to see a tall goat woman breathing heavily. She opened her eyes and stared at the two skeletons. 

“How did you…get in the Ruins?” 

Sans perked up at the familiar voice, remembering who she was. “Tibia truthful Toriel, the door to this place took a trip to the Bone Zone. What happened?”

“You’re the one behind the door… How do you know…?”

“Long story. Right now we need to know where Frisk is.”

Toriel put her head in her hands and sobbed. “That damn weed attacked me and took them back to the place they fell. I’ve been trying to regain my strength to get my child back, but…”

Papyrus reached under his armor and pulled out a container of spaghetti. “EAT THIS. IT’S COLD, BUT IT’S BETTER THAN NOTHING. WE’LL GO GET FRISK, JUST REGAIN YOUR STRENGTH.” 

The goat monster cautiously took the container, glaring at the two skeletons. “How do I know this isn’t poisoned?”

“Just trust us. We wouldn’t poison you. We care about Frisk too. But if they’re in trouble, we need to go now.” Sans glanced across the hallway to see the doorway covered in vines. 

“If you are Frisk’s friends, then I will trust you. This food won’t recover my full strength, but it will get me back to my house. Make sure you bring my child back to me.”

“Right. Come on Pap- Boss.”

Sans moved to stand up, only for Papyrus to grab his jacket hood and pull him the rest of the way up. “SANS…YOU CAN CALL ME PAPYRUS. I SHOULDN’T HAVE EVEN STARTED MAKING YOU CALL ME THAT. IT’S…DEGRADING…”

“Papyrus?”

“WE…NEED TO HAVE A LONG TALK AFTER THIS IS OVER.”

———————————-

The two made their way through the rest of the Ruins, having to get past several thick vines that engulfed the rest of the areas. As they entered through a dark doorway, the two heard familiar whimpering and sobbing. The skeletons ran through the short hallway and came across a network of slithering vines covering the entire cavern. In the center, held tightly by several vines, was Frisk.

“Frisk!”

“FRISK!”

The child looked up wide-eyed, relief momentarily passing through their face and tried to wriggle out of the vines that held them. “Sans! Papyrus!”

“Don’t worry kid! We’ll get you out of this!”

A bone chilling laugh permeated throughout the cavern and something moved out of the shadows. Frisk whimpered as it moved closer to them and Sans growled as saw Flowey come into view. 

“Flowey! What the fuck?! I thought you were Frisk’s friend! Why would you do this?!”

The flower chuckled and made the vines around Frisk squeeze the child tighter. “I was…until they RESET. I’m just punishing them for taking away everything from you. The first time, I was going to punish them by killing you all. I only got to Toriel though before Frisk died and RESET again, but I did hear that you ended up dying Sans. By your own brother even!”

Sans’s eye sockets grew wide and he turned to look at his brother. “Pap-”

“I’LL EXPLAIN LATER. RIGHT NOW WE NEED TO RESCUE FRISK.”

Flowey laughed again and turned to look at Frisk’s frightened face. “Don’t you want to tell the smiley trashbag WHY his brother killed him in the first place in the last timeloop? After all…it’s YOUR fault Frisk! You’re the one that took the ONE THING all the monsters want away from them!”

Frisk hung their head and sobbed, the vines slithering around their body before squeezing the child again, forcing them to cry out in pain. 

“Tell them!” Flowey used a vine to lift the child’s face, forcing them to stare at the two skeletons on the ground. 

“We…we b-broke the barrier. The monsters were all fr-free. We all w-walked out together. Me, both of you, Toriel, Asgore, Undyne, and Alphys. We all saw the sun rising together. But…”

Sans looked up, tears threatening to fall. “But you RESET it again? Why kid? WHY!? If we were free…WHY!?”

The vines tightened again, forcing the child to whimper. “Because…because…I… I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO DIE! I had to protect you from THEM! H-humans…they were camped out on the mountain. Th-they saw all of you…and they h-had guns and they…”

Frisk broke out into sobs. “I-I saw them all die Sans. Our fr-friends. Sh-shot down. They…they pointed the gun in your direction Sans…and then I…jumped in front…”

“Enough. I…didn’t know… I’m…sorry…”

Flowey’s voice was barely a whisper but the cavern intensified the sound tenfold. The vines began to retract and lowered the bruised and bleeding child down, where Sans ran over and snatched the child up, pulling them into a tight hug. 

Frisk sobbed into his chest as he rubbed calming circles into the child’s back. “I’m s-sorry Sans. I’m sorry. I j-just couldn’t…”

“Shhh. It’s alright Frisk. It’s okay. I’m not mad kid. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

The vines started to slither back into the earth, Flowey with them. Papyrus narrowed his eyes and sent a bone attack toward the flower, cutting him off from the vine he was attached to and swiftly grabbed the flower by the stem. 

“GOING SOMEWHERE WEED? YOU’RE NOT OFF THE HOOK YET.”

Frisk pulled their head away from Sans’s chest. “Please don’t hurt him Papyrus!”

“FRISK!”

“Please Papyrus! He didn’t know! He didn’t let me explain, but now he does and he’s sorry! Don’t hurt him!”

Papyrus growled. “FINE. BUT HE’S COMING WITH US AND APOLOGIZING FOR HURTING THAT WOMAN FROM EARLIER. AND YOU WILL DO THAT, RIGHT FLOWER?”

Flowey grumbled and nodded as best he could.

—————————-

The walk back didn’t take too long, with Sans teleporting the group through most of the puzzles. Papyrus had insisted to carry Frisk, leaving Sans to keep a hold of Flowey. The four made their way to Toriel’s house and Frisk told the two skeletons it was okay for them to walk in. 

They found Toriel in the kitchen as she was taking out a large pie from the oven, looking better than when they left her. She glared at Flowey sternly before insisting they all sit down at the table in her living room, handing each of them a large slice of the pie she cooked, Flowey included. 

After Frisk’s injuries were healed and the child planted Flowey in the flowerpot they did the first time, the five sat around the table and Frisk, Sans, and Flowey explained about the timeloops and Frisk’s powers. Frisk mentioned what had happened in the first loop to Toriel, not elaborating on what they revealed to the two skeletons, but insisted it was bad enough to warrant a RESET. Flowey had apologized for hurting both Toriel and Frisk and told them he didn’t want forgiveness, but the two did anyway. 

Sans’s phone beeped, signalling the time he usually got of his sentry shift and they realized how late it was getting. Sans stood up and stretched. 

“Well…I guess since the door’s blasted off the Ruins, monsters can come and go again. I doubt we can repair that thing. But this might be a good thing. It’ll be easier for Frisk to come visit and vise versa, you know?” He went to ruffle Frisk’s hair on their head. 

“Y-yeah Sans… That sounds wonderful…”

Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets as he heard the hurt in Frisk’s answer. “FRISK. YOU DON’T WANT TO STAY HERE, DO YOU?”

The child whipped their head around to look at the tall skeleton and then looked down, fiddling with their sweater. “Well…I… It’s not like I don’t appreciate what you’ve done for me Toriel…but… I…”

Toriel stood up and knelt before Frisk, raising the child’s face with her paw. “Frisk…as much as I would love for you to stay here, I can tell that this isn’t the best place for you. I’m still coming to terms with what I was told today, but I can tell that you feel more comfortable with Sans and Papyrus than you do with me.”

Frisk sniffed, trying hard not to cry. “T-Toriel…”

The goat monster smiled and embraced the child. “You can still call me Mom if you want and you are more than welcome to visit anytime you wish. Although, I will make one condition on you have to be accompanied by either Sans or Papyrus or both on your journey here.” 

Frisk nodded and hugged Toriel tightly before pulling away. “I promise…Mom.”

Toriel sighed as she stood up and stared down. “I was looking forward to having another child in the house, but I will be happy with your visits.”

Frisk glanced their face over to Flowey, who was trying to appear as small as possible to the group. “Actually mom…I don’t think you have to worry about that. Flowey…I think you should tell her who you really are.”

——————————–

“Why didn’t ya tell me you wanted to stay with us in the first place Frisk?” Sans smiled, his gold tooth gleaming in the last rays of artificial sunlight. 

Frisk shrugged their shoulders and squeezed Sans’s hand as they made their way home from the Ruins. 

“Let’s see…gonna have to take a few days off to clean out the attic. Not that there’s much in there, but we’ll make it a livable space for you. In the meantime, we’ll try to make the couch as comfortable as possible. It’s not exactly…well… you’ve slept on it before. You know.” 

Frisk nodded and pulled Sans farther up the path where Papyrus was walking in long strides. They reached up and grabbed Papyrus’s hand with their free hand. 

Papyrus looked down and smiled, gripping Frisk’s hand better and slowed down, allowing himself to keep in step with his family. He looked down to see Frisk motioning to Sans with their head. Papyrus nodded.

“SANS, THERE IS MORE I WANT TO SAY TO YOU ON THIS MATTER…BUT… I’M SORRY FOR WHAT I’VE PUT YOU THROUGH. I’VE BEEN A TERRIBLE BROTHER, BUT I WISH TO SEE IF WE CAN MEND WHAT I’VE BROKEN.”

Sans looked at Frisk and Papyrus in confusion. “Is this because of some of the stuff that happened in the last timeline? The one where I…?”

“YES. I WILL ELABORATE LATER, BUT I DO WANT TO SAY I’M SORRY. I KNOW THAT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR WHAT I’VE DONE, BUT-”

“I accept Papyrus. I know life’s gonna be hard for a bit, especially since we’ve got to get Frisk back in good graces with the rest of the Underground, and we’ve still got to figure out the barrier stuff…but knowing we’ve got each other’s backs…it’s good enough for me.”

They continued walking for a while, only for Papyrus to suddenly stop short and stare at Frisk in horror. 

“I REMEMBER SOMETHING FROM THE FIRST TIMELINE. I REMEMBER FRISK’S SWEAR AND VIOLENCE JAR. I OWE YOU SIX GOLD FROM THE LAST TIMELINE AND SANS…YOU OWE THEM ONE GOLD. AND…WE’LL HAVE TO GET YOU A DIFFERENT JAR. I USED IT TO PUT SANS IN. I REFUSE TO LET YOU USE IT AGAIN.”

Frisk and Sans snorted and Sans shook his head. “It’s fine Papyrus. It technically didn’t happen, so it’s…”

“FRISK IS GETTING A NEW SWEAR AND VIOLENCE JAR. I’LL SMASH THE DAMN JAR JUST TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.”

“Seven now.” Frisk chuckled. 

“Technically it would be eight if goes ahead and “does a violence” to the jar. Really though Papyrus, don’t hurt the jar. Just keep that lid on your anger for it.” Sans grinned. 

“SANS…”

“Although Papyrus, it’s good to let the anger out once in a while. Don’t keep it bottled up inside.” Frisk giggled.

“FRISK…”

“Yeah…if you didn’t, the eventual explosion might be a bit jarring for everyone around you.” Sans smirked.

“THAT’S IT! YOU TWO CAN COOK YOUR OWN DAMN DINNER TONIGHT!”

“And that’s nine gold. Hey Frisk? Since Pap isn’t cooking, wanna go to Grillby’s tonight?” 

“FINE! I’LL COOK TONIGHT! MY CHILD’S NOT GOING TO THAT NASTY GREASY BAR IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT!”

Papyrus suddenly grabbed Frisk and hugged them tight, before letting the child settle in one of his arms and walking the entire way home like that, his reputation be damned. If any monster wanted to hurt his human child, they’d have to get through him and, Papyrus glanced back at Sans, his older brother; the strongest monster in the Underground.


End file.
